I've been covering the video game space for 20 years for outlets like The Washington Post, Reuters, CNET, AOL, Wired Magazine, Yahoo!, Entertainment Weekly, NBC, Variety, Maxim, EGM, and ESPN. I serve as EIC of GamerHub.tv and co-founder of GamerHub Content Network, a video game and technology video syndication network that works with Tribune and DBG to syndicate game videos and editorial around the world. I also cover games for outlets like The Hollywood Reporter, IGN, Geek Monthly, CNN, DigitalTrends and PrimaGames.

After SOPA and PIPA, Why Gamers Should Care About Bill H.R. 4204 and ACTA

With the political world focusing on the upcoming presidential battle between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, politicians are still finding time to single out videogames. H.R. 4204, or “Violence in Video Games Labeling Act”, is a bill that would require a mandatory warning label linking videogames to aggressive behavior on nearly all titles. As legislation that will set a dangerous precedent based on questionable research, League For Gamers (LGF) is rallying the troops at PAX East in Boston this weekend to generate the type of support that caused SOPA and PIPA to die early deaths. But there is a lot of activity going on under the radar with the U.S. government trying to circumvent the type of rallying cry that defeated SOPA and PIPA.

LFG is a gathering place for gamers, developers and industry supporters who want to stand against legislation that is detrimental to the games industry. Because individuals often lack the lobbying power and necessary funds to properly represent in Washington, organizations like LFG offer a support group where they can openly voice concerns and opinions about legislation that directly affects their lives.

Mark Kern, Red 5 Studios CEO and LFG founder, will have representatives at PAX to meet with gamers and encourage them to remain active in the fight against politicians who hold the power to impact what they play and how they play. Kern talks about H.R. 4204, ACTA and the current political landscape in this exclusive interview.

What impact do you feel the support from gamers and online consumers against SOPA/PIPA had on that legislation?

The level of support, and the resulting impact, was breathtaking. Across the internet, you had a level of activism that crossed parties, interests and transcended traditional political lines and discourse to fight SOPA/PIPA. It’s never been seen before, and lawmakers are still trying to understand it. This is something that I tried to explain to the ESA (Entertainment Software Association) back when they supported SOPA/PIPA (they later withdrew their support after lawmakers abandoned the effort). I told them that they were fighting for a misguided law that gamers would not stand behind, and that they would need gamer support to continue to represent game developers’ interests. I told them that they were throwing away all of this grassroots support that one day in the future, they would really need. They didn’t listen, and 32,000 gamer signatures later on our change.org petition against the ESA’s backing of SOPA/PIPA, we demonstrated that the grassroots support was something that they could no longer ignore. This is a stunning phenomenon. We went from a phone call and debating theory to actual results in a matter of days.

What’s the next piece of SOPA/PIPA-like legislation that gamers need to keep their eyes on?

There’s a tremendous amount of movement similar to SOPA/PIPA, but not all of it directly affects gamers. Since we are small and just getting started, we have to pick our battles carefully. ACTA is a treaty that we’re watching closely. While broader than games, it has enough overlap to be of serious concern. It is an international treaty that requires the strict monitoring of Internet traffic and e-mails, and has already been signed by President Obama. Unfortunately, being an international treaty, it was formed in backroom deals between media companies and nations and much of it is still secret and unrevealed. This highlights a larger issue that we find extremely alarming. As the public becomes more aware of legislation, and more empowered by the Internet to give voice to their concerns, lobbyists are starting to move towards pushing the government to make private deals between corporations, in order to skirt the limelight of the Internet and public discourse.

What’s an example that worries you?

The recent agreement reached between media companies and top-tier Internet providers implements a sort of “three strikes you’re out” plan. If media companies suspect you of copyright infringement, ISPs have agreed that they will take graduated enforcement steps and even cut off Internet access to those suspected (not proven) of infringement. They’ve basically privately set up something which effectively functions as a law, where these companies are now the police, judge and jury with no due process, and without public input. Even more alarmingly, news reports are circulating that the White House is privately approaching Google, Yahoo and other top Internet companies to encourage them to implement aspects of SOPA/PIPA. But this time, it’s all happening out of view of the public, making it very difficult for organizations such as ours to participate in what should be an open and democratic process.

What type of timing do you see this next legislation having?

There is no one piece of legislation happening. There are the private deals we’ve mentioned, and there are provisions in the recent “Cybersecurity Act of 2012 (S. 2105)” and “H.R. 1981: Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011” that have the monitoring and logging of user’s internet activity built into them. What’s happening is that SOPA/PIPA is being taking apart and inserted into different bills that sound great (“Cybersecurity” and “Protecting Children”) in order to get them under the radar of the Internet public. They’ve learned that giving the Internet one big target is less effective than death by a thousand (paper) cuts. This is going to be a very busy year.

What role will the upcoming presidential election have on any SOPA/PIPA-like legislation coming to a vote?

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